San Francisco 49ers players discuss today's loss

Quotes from 49ers players after falling to the Saints 23-20

“They (the Saints) do a lot more on defense now. I mean, other than that, that’s the biggest difference. They give you a lot of different looks now.”

“I think we made it difficult on ourselves at times and we didn’t execute like we should have. And then we just didn’t make the plays when we had a chance.”

(surprised at already having four losses?) “I think we are but we still have six more (games) to go. And we can still finish this season 12-4.”

(on tackle/fumble on Corey White INT) “I just tried to do whatever I could to stop him from scoring. I don’t know if I knocked it (the ball) out, but I made him make an effort that he wouldn’t have had to otherwise.”

TE #85 VERNON DAVIS

“At the end of the day it’s just one loss and we’ve got six weeks to keep playing for. We know the ultimate goal is to win as many games as you can and get into the playoffs.”

C #59 JONATHAN GOODWIN

“You always know it’s a tough challenge coming in here and we know they’re a great team with a great offense and we also know they have a new defense that’s greatly improved. And coming back here we knew that the (Mercedes-Benz) Superdome is a tough environment to play in.”

“We had some negative plays on that last drive. The first play was a negative play, and then we had an incompletion and that puts you in third and long. And in this league third and long is a tough situation.”

LB #55 AHMAD BROOKS

“They are trying to protect all of the players around the NFL as much as possible. And on the defensive line sometimes we still get chopped, you know, by the offensive linemen and we are experiencing cut blocks at the line of scrimmage – and they don’t do anything about that. So, I mean, if you are going to protect everybody, then they need to call the chop blocks too.”

(on fourth-quarter personal foul) “I mean, I’m going full speed and he (Drew Brees) is going full speed; and at the last second he ducked his shoulder, you know what I mean? I mean I don’t think I could’ve done anything differently. I mean, I could have tackled him lower but I’m running around quick and coming around the corner and I’m there trying to knock the ball out of his hands because I’m thinking he’s going to throw the ball, but then he ducks his shoulder … and I mean … I don’t even know what they called.”

“It’s very frustrating. The game could have gone in a totally different direction. And I’m mad because that was a big call in the game, and then we lost the game, and that’s probably the reason why.”

S #35 ERIC REID

“I feel fine, but there were some really physical hits in that game. It was a tough game and an even tougher loss.”

(on returning to Louisiana) “You know I grew up here, and personally for me it was an awesome experience. But it would have been more awesome to get a victory. And the next time we’re here we have to do that.”